Aboard Lady

Day 4 Green Turtle to Beaufort, NC passage

Sunday, June 19th, 2011

Green Turtle to Beaufort (map)

(IV and Olivia's 7th wedding anniversary)

(Fathers' Day)

A pleasant sail to the north-east once we were around the Frying Pan shoals found us at 34 18.4N 077 01.8W on a course of 023 with speed over ground of 6.6 at noon.  The wind came more and more aft, which caused the jib to flap, so at 1210 we started the engine and furled the jib, gybing over to starboard at 1343.  At 1408 we got quite excited, thinking we could see the Cape Lookout lighthouse through the haze, but it turned out to be a sail.  It wasn't until 1505 that we spotted one of the channel markers for Beaufort/Morehead City, and saw land 25 minutes later.  

The main was furled at 1543 to the sounds of thunder, rain started shortly after that.

We dropped anchor at 1635 in Lookout Bight, and were pleased to see that we had a US cell phone signal.

There were a few other boats anchored in the bight, and we had a nice dinner, and retired early, feeling quite pleased with ourselves.

Listening to the NOAA weather, the forecaster had cautions about patio furniture, planters and trash cans blowing around in the thunderstorms.  Charlie commented that it sounded kinda wussy...in Oklahoma we worry about cars and house roofs...

Monday June 20th, 2010

Thunder awoke us at 0300.  Soon there was heavy rain.  We quickly got hatches and ports closed. Soon there was strong winds.  We were surprised that the wind knot-meter was showing over 30...over 40...over 45... Lightning bolts all around us.  You couldn't see a thing except huge flashes.  The wind kept building more!  Charlie looked out and reported that some of the other boats in the anchorage had their running lights on. Then there was a terrific flapping.  Using the spotlight we could see that part of the middle of the furled jib had caught the wind and was billowing out.  By now the knot meter was showing a steady 55, but there was nothing we could do about the sail.  Thoughts like "Glad there are no trees around" "Glad we have 150 feet of chain out" "Hope none of the other boats are dragging into us"  We had turned the satellite receiver off, so we couldn't see NOAA radar and had no idea how long this was going to last.  Charlie admitted it was his fault for mocking the wussy North Carolina weatherman.

By 0345 the storm passed, and we returned to bed.  Another storm came through a couple of hours later, but not as bad as this one.

In the morning light we could see the damaged jib.

It was a considerable effort to get it down.  After we pulled up the well-dug-in anchor (66lb Lewmar claw), Charlie was able to grab the part of the sail that was loose.  We couldn't untangle the sail from around the forestay, so we turned the boat in circles to unwind the mess.  It took about 45 minutes to get it sorted out, lowered on deck and secure.

We motored in to the wind the 6-7 miles to Beaufort, and tied up at the Beaufort Docks before 1000.

The rest of the day was spent on boat projects.  First - clearing in to customs.  Charlie called by phone, then they said they'd be sending an officer down to see the boat after questions about eggs, poultry and fresh foods on board.  We quickly scrambled the remaining eggs and ate them so they wouldn't get confiscated.  Cindy was our customs officer, and she did not object to my frozen foods, single onion, lime and two garlics, left - I'd already thrown out the lone blotchy Bahamian banana that was left. Then - sorting out the mess, cleaning the boat and doing laundry.  Beaufort is a great place for cruisers to do laundry as there is a Maytag Laundromat less then 100 yards away at the rear of the General Store with a dozen washing machines and a dozen dryers, all of which work well.  The last time we had done laundry was in the Dominican Republic, so there was quite a lot - 8 loads.  Getting the torn jib folded and the spare jib out and hoisted and then the torn jib packed and stowed took a couple of hours.  Perhaps the lack of sleep had something to do with why we had to do a couple of things twice before we got it right...changing jibs is not something we do every day aboard Lady.  The last time the jib was changed was when Charlie and Jim Moore rigged it in Trinidad in November 2010.

We had a lovely dinner out at The Spouter Inn.

Tuesday June 21st, 2011

(Summer Solstice)

Another busy day doing more cleaning in the morning, then after lunch at the Dock House, we borrowed one of the marina's cars ("just don't open the trunk because it won't close again, and you'll be fine") and made a trip in to Morehead City to West Marine (boat parts), Walgreens (health and beauty items), Harris Teeter (groceries), ABC (wines and spirits), Michaels (beads), Bank of America ATM (cash), Gas station (gas for borrowed car).  Gosh, being ashore gets expensive! And by the way, wine in grocery stores is much cheaper then what we pay in Tulsa! (sorry Mary).

Our neighbor, Jared, a Kiwi, from Saltwhistle a Passport 40-something came over for dinner, and we enjoyed hearing his adventures.

Today, Wednesday, we are going to be tourists.

Day 3 Green Turtle to Beaufort, NC passage

Saturday June 18th was another good day for sailing.
Our noon position was 31 44.323N 078 34.713W, on a course of 045 magnetic at speed of 8.4 knots. The sun was shining as we sailed along on port tack in seas with 3-4 foot swells about 85 miles east of Charleston Light.
Shortly after that a large cargo ship, MV Horncliff was in sight. Charlie and Horncliff's captain exchanged a radio call and Horncliff changed course to port, we changed course to starboard, and they passed us about a mile to port; they were headed to Glouscester.
As Charlie napped in the afternoon, I saw a few flying fish, bouncing off the swells, the ever-present Sargasso weed floating by the deep blue water.
An uneventful night - the wind came up as I came on watch at 2125, so we reefed the main.
By 2200 we had crossed the 500 foot depth line, as our dept meter started showing depths.
At 2315 Charlie exchanged radio traffic with Karibela, a sailing vessel, catamaran based on their beam; we could see them a couple of miles away on AIS, but had a hard time seeing their light, and wanted to make sure they knew we were out there with them. Karibela is also headed to Beaufort, so perhaps we'll meet up there.
Fathers' Day dawned with a pretty sun, and we are still scooting along nicely.
Charlie estimates we'll be anchored by about 1600 this afternoon. He estimates that day one we covered 159 miles, day two 175, day three 202 miles.

Day 2 Green Turtle to Beaufort, NC passage

As the morning wore on on Friday June 17, the wind started to pick up a bit.
Our noon position was 28 55.51N 079 35.29W COG 358 SOG 9.3 - about 68 miles off the Florida coast between Cape Canaveral and Daytona Beach.
By 1210 to engine was off, we were so glad to not have that noise going.
The afternoon was pleasant, heading generally north, in 9-12 knots of air, between 7 and 8 knots.
A little yellow finch came to visit us a couple of times.
Thunderstorms were visible during the night. Cloud to cloud lightning was startling, but mostly too far away for us to hear thunder.
The clouds hid the moon.
We had to change course a few times and gybe as the wind came around to keep our speed up.
The clouds that were around when the sun rose have now disappeared.
At 0900 Charlie estimates that we are 223 miles to the Cape Lookout way point, and if we keep going at the present rate, we should get there some time tomorrow afternoon.

Day 1 Green Turtle to Beaufort, NC passage

We pulled up the anchor at 0715 on Thursday June 16th, saying farewell to cruisers on the Abaco Cruisers' Net at 0830 after we passed through the Whale Cay Passage in flat calm. Absolutely no wind. A little wind came up a bit as the morning wore on, so we unfurled sails, but kept the motor running. Our noon position was 27 00.00N 077 29.86W, COG 319, SOG 7.3. At 1315 we got a lot of wind out of a nearby squall, no rain, but we had to furl all the sails as it was gusting to 30 knots. By 1350 we had the engine off, and sailing well with reefed main and jib in 20-25 knots of air.
Our #2 genoa halyard came loose, so Charlie had to put on his life-jacket and tether to leave the cockpit to take care of it.
We had a good sail all afternoon, taking out the reefs as the wind eased. By 1800 the wind had eased a lot, so the engine came on to get us more speed than the 4.9 knots we were down to.
The wind was light all night. A beautiful moon.
We started with wind out of the east. It has clocked around since then, and is now from the west, and we are motoring to the NW, hoping to pick up some speed when we reach the Gulf Stream.
The only traffic we have seen was the Prospector II, bound for New Orleans going in the opposite direction to us at about 0830.

Marsh Harbour, Guana Cay, Green Turtle Cay

Abaco Islands

Tuesday June 7th to Wednesday June 15th, 2011

We enjoyed snorkeling on Sandy Cay so much, we decided to stay at Lynyard Cay a second night, and went snorkeling there again on Tuesday.  

We also got some boat projects done.  The anchor chain tend to get wound up and kinked after a lot of use.  I thought that the way to un-ravel it would be to go out to deep water, let out all 300 feet of chain and let the anchor untwist on its own.  Charlie informed me that although that seemed logical, he doubted that the windlass would be able to handle the weight of all that chain and the 66lbs of anchor.  His solution was for us to motor slowly backwards in about 20 feet of water, laying out the chain on the bottom as we went, back down on it and then to winch it back in.  It seems to have worked to far.  

He also changed the fuel filters and fixed the MOB (man overboard) light and whistle that are attached to the horseshoe buoy that we hope we never have to use.

He lost a bridge on his teeth chewing gum.  He wanted to wait until he got back to Tulsa to get it fixed, but the Medical Officer decided that she did not want to be responsible for working on aching teeth at sea, and found a dentist in Marsh Harbour listed in the cruising guide.  We were out of cell phone range, but Wednesday we managed to reach the dentist by phone as we motored back towards Marsh Harbour, and made an appointment for that afternoon.  We anchored in the harbour without going aground, and found the dentist who was able to cement the bridge back.  We also were able to purchase additional engine oil at the Tru-Value/Napa hardware store.  

Dinner out that night at the Jib Room was fun.  We met another cuiser, enjoyed watching a boat-load of boy-scouts and seeing the locals enjoying barbecued ribs.  A rake and scrape band started up, and the kids enjoyed the limbo competition.

Thursday we moved over to Guana Cay, where we picked up a mooring, and stayed there on Friday when the low pressure area finally arrived.  This weather event had been threatening the Caribbean for a week of so, hanging around Jamaica, The Cayman Islands and Cuba; it had sent friends that we hope to meet in the Abacos back to Florida before we arrived.  It rained and rained, all day.  One station on the Abaco Cruisers' Net reported Saturday that they had received 4 1/2 inches of very welcome rain.  We did more boat projects  - freezer defrost, change bulb in instrument panel, fix struts for solar panel - as we watched the rain.  We have full side-curtains that keep a lot of the weather out of the cockpit, so we weren't cooped up down below, like some of the other boats around us.

Our solar panels don't charge the batteries during that kind of weather, so Saturday after the sun was shining again, we motored through Loggerhead Cut and Whale Cay Cut, anchored off Crossing Bay for a walk on the lovely beach by Treasure Island.  The wind was from the west, a rare direction in the Abacos.  All of the favoured anchorages are to the west of the eastern-most islands, but those were rather exposed with this wind direction.  The forecast was for more wind from west, north and south in the coming days, so we chose to go in to White Sound in Green Turtle Cay where it was calm and sheltered.

We had a drink at the bar at Bluff House, and found out that the resort had recently changed hands, and they they had no fuel at present.  The Green Turtle Club marina did have fuel, so we motored over there on Sunday, and filled up with diesel and water, ready for the trip back to USA.  Monday was the Whit Monday holiday here, so most of the businesses in the lovely town of New Plymouth were closed when we dinghied in there for a walk, but we were able to purchase a few groceries and ice cream and get lunch after our walk.

Here's a picture of a tree that was not doing very well when we were here two years ago.

And a picture of that same tree now!

This week the bank is only open one day.  There is no ATM, so visitors better bring all the cash they need with them.

We walked through town to Gillam Bay and had a nice walk along the beach.  I found some shells on the lovely sand-banks.

It was flat calm so after parking the provisions we had purchased back on Lady, we took the dinghy around the northern end of GTC and anchored on the Atlantic, reef-side of the island for snorkeling.  

Tuesday (Flag Day!) we did boat projects in the morning, and took dinghy around to snorkel off Pelican Island.  We found a pretty reef there which at one point had two moorings on it, but only the lines remain...the floats seem to have been gone for quite a while.

We have been checking weather on the Internet (Passage Weather is a favorite) and on our Sirius weather, and it looks like we have favourable winds forecast for tomorrow for a few days that will enable us to depart the Bahamas and sail to the United States.  We have off-shore meals prepared and we'll go to town today to clear out of the Bahamas.

We expect to depart Green Turtle early tomorrow (Thursday) morning, so that we can get out of White Sound at high tide, exit the Sea of Abaco at Whale Cay, and head north for Beaufort, North Carolina.  We should arrive there Saturday or Sunday.

 

 

Marsh Harbour, Hope Town, Lynyard Cay

Abaco, Bahamas

Saturday June 4th to Monday June 6th, 2011

We walked into town looking for provisions.  The big grocery store we had used during our last visit was closed, even though the sign on the door indicated that they were open on Saturdays.  A local gentleman give us directions to the new store, about two or three blocks away.  My, what a lovely store the new Maxwells is.  Light, clean, just like a USA supermarket, except that the prices are all a lot higher (all that produce has to ride a boat to get here!).  A stop at the liquor store on the way back, ($48 for a case of Kalik Light beer) and we departed Harbour View about 1100.  The people who were docked next to us were checking out at the same time.  The little doggie seems to enjoy her sunglasses!

We admired some of the beautiful homes as we exited the harbor. The tide was high, so we did not have the problems of going aground like we did when we came in to the marina.

Heading to Hope Town was mostly to weather, but we were able to sail for a few miles.  We have to follow the chart carefully in the Abacos. Two to three feet of water under the keel is a lot in some places.  

The tide was still high as we entered Hope Town.  We picked up the "nicest mooring ever" according to Charlie, and spent the afternoon watching all the goings on around the harbor.  The ferries (Donnie X, and Donnie XIII) came and went, vacationers and locals enjoying their sunny Saturday afternoon.  We had a great hear of the shore-side band that night!

Sunday morning Charlie worked on the stainless, and waxed the inside of the bimini, and cleaned the instrument panels.  Truman Major of Lucky Strike came by and collected $20 a night for the use of the mooring.  We had a discussion of moorings and how best to attach boats to them during a hurricane, (chain).  If any reader visits Hope Town, the Lucky Strike moorings are the twin green moorings, and we think that they are the best.

After lunch, we loaded the snorkeling gear in to the dinghy, and dressed in swimsuits, headed to the dock by Hope Town Harbour Lodge, one of the hotels in the area.  We crosses the Queens Highway, walked through the hotel, across Back Street, past the hotel's pool and took a path down to the beach.

The water was delicious, and we swam out to the off-shore reef.  We spent about 45 minutes in the water, following schools of fish, and admiring the seaweed.  Like many reefs, a lot of the coral has died, but it was still an interesting place to snorkel, and a beautiful beach.

We walked back to Hopetown Harbour Lodge and I jumped in their fresh-water pool while Charlie ordered us drinks from the bar.  He came a got me shortly...he had changed swimsuits at the last minute before we left Lady, and had left his money in the pocket of the other bathing suit.  I had only brought my towel and a camera with me, so we quickly canceled the drink order and departed.

The rest of the afternoon we relaxed in the cockpit.

Monday morning we beached the dinghy, and in preparation for our return to the USA, installed her registration numbers.  Charlie had re-registered her in Oklahoma while we we home, and he also had purchased letters for a name for her, so we installed that too. (Charlie: Her name is BIMBO. This took 3 plus years of neogiation to agree on her name. I think it's perfect; the captain can play with the BIMBO during the day but he comes home to the LADY at night).

We walked around town for an hour or so.  I purchased stamps and postcards while Charlie puzzled over what language this sign is in.  Everybody we have talked to speaks English.

We admired the primary school that Anna Albury, Bahamas national Primary school student for 2011 attends.

The town is quite colorful.  Houses and cottages have names rather than numbers.

Here's a picture of Lady taken from the grocery store's dock.

We dropped our mooring close to the noon high tide and departed the harbor and headed south under power as there was not much wind.

We dropped anchor behind Sandy Cay, and then took the dinghy around to the moorings that have been installed by the park service adjacent to the Coral Gardens.

The reef was apparently badly damaged by Hurricane Floyd, but it had made a pretty good recovery in the past 12 or so years since that storm.  The elk-horn corals were impressive, and we enjoyed swimming around with a Hawksbill turtle. (Charlie: This reef was only 70% dead, where most of the others we have visited were 90% dead, so this was a three-fold improvement)!

After our swim, back on Lady, we picked up up the anchor as the anchorage was not really good enough for overnight, and moved on to Lynyard Cay.

I discovered that my camera no longer wants to show me anything on its screen.  I was able to remember the sequence of buttons and clicks to download the pictures.  It seems as thought the camera still takes pictures but won't show what the pictures are.  I think I'll soak it in fresh water and get out the new camera.  No more underwater picture taking for a while!

 

Conception Island to Marsh Harbour

The Bahamas

Thursday June 2nd, 2011 to Friday June 3rd, 2011

Completion of voyage from Providenciales, Turks and Caicos

We awoke early after a great night's sleep, and at 0635 Charlie was pulling up the anchor and we motored out of the bay, past the Southampton Reef.  By shorty after 0700, sails were pulling and motor was off.  A rain squall threatened us, so first we reefed the main, then as we saw gusts up to 28 the main was furled some more.  It rained heavily for a while, but by 0800 the rain was ending, and we were back to sailing under full sail.  Soon the sun was shining brightly.

We saw a single dolphin that morning, but it didn't stay around long enough to get its picture taken.

Our noon position was 24 30.330N 075 12.621W, east of Cat Island with a COG of 339 and SOG 7.2 knots.

It was an ideal passage-making day.  At times our speed was over 8 knots, and we had sunshine all afternoon.

Hajin Nagoya passed us at 1445, She was headed for the Panama Canal.

Half an hour later, Tropic Sun appeared on the AIS, destination St. Thomas, and a couple of hours later he headed up 10 to give Garnet Ace a wide berth as she headed for Cartagena.

We reefed again; our speed remained over 8 knots, so before dark we reefed more, and as the sun set at about 1945 our speed was still 7.5.

Again , we took turns napping during the night, the person on watch alone wearing their life-jacket and tether hooked to the boat.

Lady slowed as the wind lightened up around 2245 and Charlie shook our the reefs unaided, leaving me asleep.

It was another moonless night, but there were lots of stars, an occasional shooting star, and the occasional lights of air traffic.

Next morning, we headed in to the North Bar Channel way-point.  The tide was rising, so with wind and current in the same direction, it seemed safe enough to enter through that channel and we still had waypoints in our chart plotter from entering this channel 2 years ago. We had come 182 natuical miles in 25 hours all under sail except when leaving the anchorage. Not bad! We motored around a couple of sand-banks, and dropped anchor off uninhabited Tilloo Cay, where we had another nap, swim and brunch, before heading to Marsh Harbour.

It was Labour Day, a national holiday in the Bahamas, so the usual dock hand at Harbour View Marina was off.  The person who assisted us was confused about the tidal situation, and at 1400 we were stuck in the mud, trying to get into our slip.  We eventually got in, with the help of other cruisers on the dock, long lines, using the windlass to winch us into the slip together with full power on the engine. 

By 1730 Customs and Immigration officials had come by to separate us from $300 and admitted us to The Bahamas.  The officials were imoressed that we had sailoed from Turks and Caicos to Abaco in three days.  The boat was washed, as was the laundry.

A lovely dinner ashore, and an early night in bed.

 

Provo to Conception

Provo to Conception
Tuesday May 31st to Wednesday June 1st, 2011
(posted via Sailmail)
We slipped the lines at South Side Marina, Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands at 0723 on Tuesday May 31st, and listened to

the Cruisers' Net on Channel 72 as we motored out of Discovery Bay. Bob Pratt runs the net and he was sweet to wish the crew of

Lady goodbye and safe voyage. The sky was overcast and the wind was light, so we kept the engine on after the sails were hosted as

we departed TCI to the western channel called "The Funnel". As we left the Caicos banks, just like when we had come in, there is a

dramatic drop off...we went from the depth meter showing about 12 feet to off the instrument in about a boat length.
We headed north-west, and out noon position showed us at 21 55.194N 072 38.089W on a course of 319, motor-sailing at 6.8 knots.
We dropped the sails shortly after that as we could see a squall coming. The rain missed us, and the wind did not come up. The

sails were unfurled again, but the motor kept chugging us along. By 1430 it was raining; it got heavier, but by 1500 we were able

to turn off the engine and sail. We passed Devils Point on Mayaguana Island around 1730 and changed course to head to the east of

the Plana Cays. The wind went light again, so the engine was back on for another hour or so.
By 1900 we were eating chile under full sail.
We headed to the west of Samana Cay, and started motoring again at change of watch at 1035. We take turns in napping for a couple

of hours during the night, so that someone is always awake and on watch. After passing Samana Cay, we headed for Rum Cay's south-

western point. We only saw one other vessel during the night, a freighter headed to Dania.
After day-break, under sail, it became apparent that there is a major shipping channel inside of San Salvador, and we were trying

to cross it. Three commercial vessels showed on the AIS (Automatic Identification System), one headed north and two going south.

Charlie radioed New York Express, and we changed course, as did they, so that we passed port to port, as we were in a crossing

situation, headed for a collision in twenty minutes.
The wind went light again, so on with the engine until 1130, when it had filled enough. Charlie saw a porpoise, but he didn't stay

long enough for a picture. Shortly after our noon position of 23 42.34N 075 01.85W Jenny called "Land Ho!" and COnception Island

was in sight.
We dropped anchor at 1335. There is one motor yacht in the bay besides us. Conception Island is uninhabited, and part of the

Bahamas' National Park System. We are flying a "Q" flag as we have yet to check in to the Bahamas.
A swim, a nap, and we'll be ready to go tomorrow after a steak for dinner tonight.
Tomorrow, Thursday, we head for Marsh Harbour on Great Abaco Island. It's a little further than this last leg, but we hope to be

there by sundown on Friday. We'll officially check in and pay the $300 fee for a yacht like Lady to visit.